O bispo Cipriano de Cartago e a conduta das virgens: refletindo sobre o comportamento e o espaço femininos na antiguidade tardia

Résumé

North Africa in the 3rd century AD was ravaged by pestilences, invasions, flights, exiles and
martyrdom. All these phenomena appear described in the treatises and letters of Bishop Cyprian
of Carthage. Immersed in so many problems, it was up to the leaders of Christian communities to
indicate the best paths to be followed by the members of their flock of converts. Converting should
generate new social practices. Thus, Cyprian found himself provoked to reflect on the conduct of women converted to Christianity, since controlling female conduct was a way of regulating male
behavior. In this article, we seek to analyze his succinct treatise on the conduct of virgins, in
which we verify the notion of virginity defended by the Bishop, the spaces to be occupied and
avoided by women and the image of holiness to be publicly produced by them.